Sea water for the head?

[scot]

Starting to think about the head, plumbing, holding tank, etc. I have women in all directions! Wife, daughters, grand daughter. May need more holding tank capacity than fuel. 5 gal bucket with nifty snap on seat will not be acceptable (my preference)

The V-berth in the 25 is large enough for (1) night at the marina, but the head is "right there" and smelly toilet would make for an unpleasant night. I have heard raw water heads stink due to bacteria in the water, is this true? So, how many of you guys are using sea water for the head? If so, any problems with odors?

Thanks

[John F.]

I haven't had a problem. I use that blue head deodorizer stuff in a bottle, and pump the head dry after use.

[Carl]

Not sure if its the bacteria or whatever in the water...but yes it does smell in my area of the woods. We used to flush dry then add a cup of fresh water.

[Yannis]

I have an electric head and it flushes sea water. It doesn't smell at all. At the end of the season I flush a bottle of drinking water.
By the way, WHAT kind of "end of season" service do these heads require?

[scot]

I may plumb in a fresh water (valve option) supply line to the head, from the dock side supply. On my last boat, I typically connected the fresh water line from the dock after use and let it flow through the engine for a few minutes to leave fresh water in the coolers, manifold etc. Also use it for fresh water wash down. BUT is the chlorine in city water worse for the engine than sea water?

I have heard of guys giving the head a fresh water flush after the weekend. Does anyone on the board have there's set up this way?

[Rawleigh]

Also make sure you use hose rated for a head. Odor can permeate through other hose.

[Tony Meola]

Scot

The head itself should not smell. Most of the smells come from the holding tank and not using the proper hose and or PVC plumbing. If you pump the head dry you will be fine. Also, if you search around you will see that most of us try not to put the holding tank in cabin area. Not sure you have that option. Only other place it would smell is out of the vent, they sell filters for that.

Yannis

They do sell a lubricant for the heads, and some heads recommend a treatment from time to time. Around here in the NE US, due to the cold weather most of us pump antifreeze through the lines either after or right before pump out of the holding tank. The antifreeze is non toxic used to winterize water systems.

[scot]

Holding tank won't be in the V-berth, barely enough room in there for me and the head. It will be located just aft of the berth, deep in the hull between the box stringers. Based on the measurements I took today, I should be able to fit a 45-50 gallon holding tank. I want to be able to tell all the women folk; "pee & poo all you want". My day on the water won't be cut short because somebody's gotta go!

[Yannis]

Thanks Tony.

PS: "Head", what a funny name for a toilet bowl !!

[PeterPalmieri]

I have a salt water head and I would without a doubt go with a freshwater system. The problem is the sea water that sits between the raw water in take and the head, in the hose. When it sits for the week the micro organisms in the water die off and start to decompose. Generally in the summer I will stop at the boat the day before we go out, flush that water through and drop a few shots of bleach before flushing it through. As Tony says anything after that point is likely holding tank related.

Search through Bob Lico's posts he has a great lady friendly setup with zero odor.

[mike ohlstein]

An 'Out Of Order' sign is my particular preference.

I always carry a bucket....

[scot]

The bucket is my first choice as well Mike. They never fail or sink once emptied. Just can't talk the women into carrying the "loaded" bucket out of the cabin and dumping over board in front of friends and family. Go figure.

[Carl]

The bucket is my first choice as well Mike. They never fail or sink once emptied. Just can't talk the women into carrying the "loaded" bucket out of the cabin and dumping over board in front of friends and family. Go figure.

They make some pretty nice porta potti's that flush, can be mounted with a quick release for dumping or setup for dock vac.
Add a bit of holding tank juice to setup base holding tank and your good.

Unit gets old...dump the whole thing and buy a new one. Cheaper then a macerator pump that always seems to go.

[Bruce]

Other than the lingering holding tank smell using permeable materials, the smell when you flush using salt water is the micro organisms in the water that get in the holes at the bowl rim. They dry out and rot. When you flush it brings the material and smell out into the bowl.

It varies with the content and salinity and temp of the water and the frequecy of flushing. Less flush, more smell.

[scot]

The tank vent smell and hose permeation appear to be major culprits, based on the comments. So I have 2 vents going in the system, 1 for the anti-syphon loop and one off the tank itself. The loop will be in the anchor locker and I was thinking about putting that vent under the rail, in the flare of the bow? The tank vent will be mid-ship, what are the thoughts about a location for that vent? I have Dorado boxes built into the hull, what about installing inside the upper portion of the box? Anyone use the charcoal vent filters and do they work?

For the bacteria in the raw water line, I assume a fresh water flush after use at the dock should help, assuming closed seacock and the raw water supply line gets flushed.

[Navatech]

PS: "Head", what a funny name for a toilet bowl !!

The story behind the name is actually quite interesting... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_(watercraft)

[Navatech]

The naval vessels I served on all had raw (seawater) flushing... Due to the way they were set up (when you turned the handle some sea water (from the Fire Line) would enter the bowl as a flushing media and some would feed a Venturi pump... The pump served as a macerator and evacuation pump... As the pump would have a higher capacity then the flushing quantity the head was always dry... You could actually feel the air being sucked... Even with 18 guys using two bowls odor was never an issue... Dropping (accidentally or otherwise) stuff (keys, small tools, small ammunition, rags etc) that hadn't gone THROUGH a human body into the bowl was the big issue...

This was in the days that vessels pumped raw sewage straight overboard... No treatment of any kind (except for being macerated)...

[Rawleigh]

The small arms ammo through the mascerator pump could produce interesting results under the right circumstances!!

[Navatech]

The small arms ammo through the mascerator pump could produce interesting results under the right circumstances!!

Possibly the reason why there was no macerator as such... When I say macerator I mean something that looks/works somewhat like a blender... The macerating effect was achieved by the pressurized water hitting the "solids"...

Furthermore, the small arms ammo we're talking about would have been up to 9mm type... For the Uzi's and personal hand guns some had... The Uzi's were replaced by short version M-16's shortly into my service time... The ammo for those (due to length) wouldn't pass the first bend and were easy enough to pull out... Just stick your hand in the hole...

[Yannis]

The story behind the name is actually quite interesting...

Thanks Nav, who would have thought !